THE DATABASE PROJECT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED AS AN AID TO OUR VISITING SCIENTISTS. ITS NEED AROSE FROM AN INCREASING INTEREST IN ANALYZING THE IONIC MAKE-UP OF THE RECORDED TRANSMEMBRANE FLUX. MANY OF OUR VISITORS HAVE AT BEST A RUDIMENTARY KNOWLEDGE OF PHARMACOLOGY; A MINORITY HAVE A DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF ONE ASPECT, SOMETIMES WITH ACCESS TO COMMERCIALLY UNAVAILABLE COMPOUNDS. THIS KNOWLEDGE WAS LOST TO THE FACILITY IN THE IMMEDIATE SENSE WHEN VISITORS LEFT, AND YET WAS FREQUENTLY NEEDED BY SUBSEQUENT VISITORS. TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM WE BEGAN A PROJECT IN 1994 TO COMPILE A DATABASE/HYPERTEXT DOCUMENT. CURRENTLY THERE ARE LISTED APPROXIMATELY 300 COMPOUNDS, MOST ACTING ON SOME ASPECT OF ION REGULATION. WE ARE NOW IN THE PROCESS OF COMPILING THE DATASHEETS, CONCENTRATING ON MEMBRANE TRANSPORT PROTEINS. IN ORDER TO EXPEDITE THE ASSEMBLY OF THIS DATABASE WE ARE COLLABORATING WITH RESEARCH BIOCHEMICALS INTERNATIONAL (SEE LETTER BELOW). THIS COMPANY SPECIALIZES IN ~NEUROCHEMICALS FOR THE NEUROSCIENTIST~ AND IS PROVIDING DATASHEETS FOR INCLUSION. IT IS OUR INTENTION TO MAKE THE DATABASE AVAILABLE TO A BROADER SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, EITHER THROUGH THIS COMPANY OR THE MBL GOPHER. THE DATABASE USES FOXPRO MICROSOFT FORMAT ON AN IBM-PC. THE SEARCH CODE PARAMETERS BY WHICH THE PROGRAM MAKES CHOICES AND COMPILES LISTS ARE BASED ON THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE, MEDICAL SUBJECTS HEADINGS - TREE STRUCTURE. USING FOXPRO 2.6 FOR WINDOWS, THE DATABASE CONSISTS OF THREE PARTS: TWO SCREENS THAT HAVE INFORMATION ENTERED MANUALLY ABOUT COMPOUNDS AND TREE STRUCTURE; AND A THIRD SCREEN THAT DISPLAYS THE LABELS OF THE TREE STRUCTURE AND PROVIDES FOR THE INITIAL SEARCHES. EACH OF THESE SCREENS OFFERS A WINDOW WITH A DESCRIPTIVE TITLE AND A CHOICE OF OPTIONS. AS AN OPTION IS CHOSEN, A NEW WINDOW APPEARS. WHEN A CHOSEN OPTION HAS AN ENTRY IN ITS COMPOUND NAME FIELD THEN A SCREEN APPEARS WITH THE COMPOUND DATASHEET PRESENTED AS TEXT. THE FACTS AND DOCUMENTATION ABOUT A GIVEN COMPOUND INCLUDE NAME, FORMULA, MOLECULAR WEIGHT AND STRUCTURE WHERE APPROPRIATE. IT ALSO INCLUDES : SOURCE: COMMERCIAL AVAILABILITY, CHEMICAL COMPANY. ACTION: FOR EXAMPLE, RECEPTOR, CHANNEL, PORTER, PUMP, AND SITE OF ACTION, INCLUDING ORGANELLE, MEMBRANE AND TISSUE OR CELL. CAUTION: GUIDANCE WHERE A COMPOUND IS KNOWN TO AFFECT MORE THAN ONE MECHANISM OR LOSES ITS SPECIFICITY ABOVE A CERTAIN CONCENTRATION OR IN DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. PREPARATION: SOLUBILITY IN DIFFERENT SOLVENTS PARTICULARLY BIOLOGICAL SALINES, SHELF LIFE AND DIFFERENT STORAGE CHARACTERISTICS. REFERENCES: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER CITATIONS RELEVANT TO THE COMPOUND. (A LIBRARY OF COPIES OF THESE IS BEING ASSEMBLED FOR AVAILABILITY TO FACILITY USERS.) ABSTRACTS BRIEF NOTES ON CONTENTS OF KEY CITATIONS. KEYWORDS: KEYS THAT WILL PERMIT MULTIPATH ACCESS TO THE COMPOUND INFORMATION. DISEASES: BRIEF NOTES ON KNOWN APPLICABILITY OF A COMPOUND ON SPECIFIC DISEASES. ESSAY: INTENDED TO PROVIDE AN INTRODUCTION FOR THE UNINITIATED TO THE MAJOR SUBJECT AREAS. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF EITHER THE SUBJECTS EXPERIMENTAL RELEVANCE OR HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT BUT ONLY AS A USERS GUIDE TO ITS MOST BASIC BIOLOGICAL AND/OR CHEMICAL CHARACTERISICS. SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY MIGHT INCLUDE ATPASES, PORTERS, CHEMICALS SUCH AS AMILORIDE, OR STRUCTURES SUCH AS EPITHELIA. THE INTENTION IS TO HAVE THESE ESSAYS WRITTEN BY A PROFESSIONAL IN THE GIVEN FIELD. THIS WILL ONLY BE DONE WHEN THE BULK OF THE DATABASE IS FINISHED AND A MECHANISM FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION DETERMINED. A PRINTOUT IS POSSIBLE OF EACH COMPOUND.